When the reaction of so many people within rugby league – a sport which never fails to divide opinion – to an incident is almost unanimous, you know you have a talking point on your hands. The Rugby Football League has made it its intention to crack down on late tackles this season more than ever before, underlined by the spate of yellow cards and suspensions we have seen handed out in the first month of the new Super League season.
Here, that issue was shone under the spotlight once again. There is nothing concrete to suggest Castleford would have avoided a fifth defeat in six games, their worst start to a season in a decade, had Mahe Fonua not become the latest victim of laws many feel are overzealous and simply too harsh on the players. But the facts are that Fonua’s yellow card led to a ten-minute period when Wigan had a man advantage, and they certainly exploited it.
A 10-6 half-time lead quickly became 22-6 and despite a spirited second-half Castleford fightback, they ultimately fell short as Wigan held their nerve for a fifth win in six. The big talking point, however, was the Fonua sin-bin, the latest in a line of incidents which, in any other sense, would have barely merited a penalty. “It’s boxing without being able to throw a punch,” the Castleford coach, Lee Radford, said. “It’s not the game of rugby league. Not what we were brought up on and what we love.”
Castleford had their moments in that first half, but a glut of possession on the Wigan line yielded only one try, to Greg Eden. By then, Wigan had scored two of their own, with the outstanding Jai Field – the headline act on any other night – setting up Liam Farrell just after Zak Hardaker crossed against his former club. But the Fonua sin-bin, for a supposed late hit on Field as he visibly attempted a tackle, was decisive.
Would Wigan have scored with Fonua still on the field? Perhaps. But their task was made easier without him, and when Ethan Havard crossed, Field then scored a superb solo try. Shortly after Fonua returned, Field was again involved as Farrell scored his second. “His moments of brilliance helped bring the game home,” Matt Peet said of Field, the competition’s outstanding player so far in 2022.
But even he could not defend the bizarre sending to the sin-bin of Fonua. “I didn’t really see what it was for,” Peet said. “In live I think it was harsh, and seeing it back, I feel it was harsh too.”
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Castleford rallied late on, with tries from George Griffin, Jake Trueman and Jake Mamo threatening to set up a grandstand finish, but when Brad Martin was sent off for the visitors, it quelled the Tigers’ momentum. From there, Wigan had the wherewithal to close the game out courtesy of two penalties from the boot of Hardaker. However, there is no doubting what the talking point here is once again: and rugby league has to get to grips with it fast.